COLUMBUS, Ohio — There was a narrow window in early December that coaches at Ohio State described as integral to the early stages of an ongoing quarterback competition to replace C.J. Stroud, the two-time Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year who would eventually declare for the NFL draft.
The series of practices head coach Ryan Day and quarterbacks coach Corey Dennis referred to coincided with Stroud’s second trip to New York City as a Heisman Trophy finalist. Without Stroud to run the show, backups Kyle McCord and Devin Brown split the first-team reps during three consecutive practices in what amounted to a preview of their forthcoming battle to be named Ohio State’s starter in 2023.
"Those guys were able to step up," Day said in a news conference on National Signing Day, "and we had some really competitive practices in there. We were actually able to see those guys compete, and it was good to see. I think at the end of the day, both of them do things a little bit different in their skill sets. But the guy who’s the leader — there’s a lot of different ways to do it — and [the guy who] is competitively tough is gonna ultimately win the job."
Replacing Stroud is no easy task. The former five-star prospect from the 2020 recruiting cycle won 21 of the 25 games he started for Ohio State and earned All-America honors in back-to-back seasons. He threw for 8,123 yards and 85 touchdowns during that stretch while setting 16 school records and three conference records. He’s the first quarterback in Big Ten history to throw for 30 touchdowns in consecutive years.
A portion of that success can be ascribed to Stroud’s uber-talented teammates — especially at the Buckeyes’ perennially-loaded skill positions — and the quarterbacks vying for his spot will benefit from one of the deepest receiving corps in the country. Wideouts Marvin Harrison Jr. (1,263 yards and 14 TDs); Emeka Egbuka (1,151 yards and 10 TDs); Julian Fleming (533 yards, six TDs) and tight end Cade Stover (406 yards, five TDs) are all returning in 2023.
"When you look at the guys that are surrounding [them] and the cast that is surrounding them," Day said, "I mean, you couldn’t be more excited to be a quarterback right now in college football."
Day’s plan is to facilitate an open competition between McCord and Brown across the 15 spring practices, one of which will be the annual intra-squad scrimmage in April. The goal is to structure those sessions in a way that places both quarterbacks in as many game-like scenarios as possible with the hope that one of them seizes control of the competition.
In a perfect world, Day said he would prefer to name a starter by the end of spring ball but isn’t opposed to extending the battle into the preseason if necessary. And while many believe McCord is the odds-on favorite, Day and his assistants refrained from discussing the strengths and weaknesses of either player during last week’s media session to avoid showing any kind of favoritism.
They spoke with more detail about expected third-string quarterback Lincoln Kienholz, a true freshman who won’t arrive until the summer, and likely fourth-string quarterback Tristan Gebbia, an Oregon State transfer who will navigate the season in a hybrid player/graduate assistant role, than the primary contenders for the starting job.
"At the end of the day, it’s going to be the guy that our team believes in and the coaching staff believes in that can lead our team to a championship," Day said. "That’s not always clear, you know? It sometimes can be a little gray. But you do the best you can."
Here’s a closer look at the candidates:
Kyle McCord
Height: 6-foot-3
Weight: 222 pounds
Class: Rising junior
Hometown: Mount Laurel, New Jersey (St. Joseph’s Prep in Pennsylvania)
Recruiting: Five-star prospect rated No. 28 overall and No. 6 QB in 2021
McCord was Ohio State’s primary backup the last two seasons and enters this year’s competition as the likely successor to Stroud. He completed 16 of 20 passes for 190 yards and a touchdown while playing 67 snaps of mop-up duty in 2022, most of which came in wins over Toledo (14 snaps) and Michigan State (16 snaps). Sixteen of his 20 pass attempts traveled nine yards or fewer downfield, according to Pro Football Focus, with his lone attempt of more than 20 yards producing a 72-yard touchdown. He was blitzed on 20% of his dropbacks and finished 3-of-4 for 29 yards in those situations.
One of McCord’s biggest advantages is his playing experience from the year prior, in 2021, when he played 95 total snaps and started the game against Akron. McCord completed 13 of 18 passes for 319 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in a 59-7 win over the Zips that gave the coaching staff an idea of how he would perform with increased responsibilities. He spread the ball to all parts of the field with four passes behind the line of scrimmage (89 yards, one TD), six passes that traveled between zero yards and 10 yards downfield (29 yards, one INT); two passes that traveled between 10 and 20 yards downfield (108 yards) and five passes that traveled at least 20 yards downfield (93 yards, one TD). His NFL passer rating was 128.2.
It’s worth noting McCord was high school teammates with Harrison at St. Joseph’s Prep in Philadelphia, where he threw for 6,887 yards and 88 touchdowns.
"He’s grown," Day said. "And I think he’s done a good job of it. His attitude has been excellent. He’s very hardworking. Now it’s time to go put it on the field and compete."
Devin Brown
Height: 6-foot-3
Weight: 210 pounds
Class: Rising sophomore
Hometown: Gilbert, Arizona (Corner Canyon High School in Utah)
Recruiting: Four-star prospect rated No. 43 overall and No. 6 QB in 2022
Brown was third on the depth chart as a true freshman in 2022 after enrolling early. He played nine snaps against Toledo and six snaps against Rutgers but never attempted a pass. His final stat line for the season was one carry for one yard in the 77-21 win over the Rockets.
A key difference between McCord and Brown is style of play. The former is viewed as a pocket passer and has run the ball 12 times for minus-12 yards the last two seasons after being timed at 5.07 seconds in the 40-yard dash during a recruiting event in 2019. The latter is more likely to get outside the pocket or use his legs to move the chains as evidenced by 430 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns as a senior in high school. Brown, who also threw for 4,881 yards and 57 touchdowns that season, was timed at 4.8 seconds in the 40-yard dash at the Elite 11 Finals in 2021.
"He’s athletic, he’s mobile, he can extend plays a little bit," Dennis said. "Not saying that Kyle can’t do those things, but I would say that that’s something for Devin is kind of his niche."
Lincoln Kienholz
Height: 6-foot-1½
Weight: 182 pounds
Class: Incoming freshman
Hometown: Pierre, South Dakota (T.F. Riggs High School)
Recruiting: Four-star prospect rated No. 189 overall and No. 15 QB in 2023
In the fall of 2021, Kienholz threw for 3,359 yards and 37 touchdowns while rushing for 1,165 yards and 12 touchdowns in his junior season. His recruitment picked up the following spring with scholarship offers from Pittsburgh, Washington, Wisconsin, Illinois and Kansas State, among others, all arriving in a six-week span from early April through mid-May. He took official visits to Wisconsin, Wyoming, North Dakota State and Washington before committing to the Huskies last year on June 29.
Five months later, Kienholz flew to Columbus for his fifth and final official visit. The Buckeyes extended a scholarship offer the following week, in early December, and Kienholz flipped his commitment in time to seal the deal with Ohio State a few days before Christmas amid a standout senior year: 3,422 passing yards; 1,436 rushing yards; 70 combined touchdowns.
"He’s an extremely productive guy," Dennis said. "And then I was able to go watch a game, watch him play when it was like one versus two, another highly ranked team in the state, and the guy’s a competitor. And he does everything. He’s extremely athletic, he competes. There was a two-minute drive — he doesn’t play [much] defense, but they’re like, ‘Hey, we know that [the opposing team is] going to throw it right here,’ and they put him back at safety and I think he had an interception in the state championship game. But I just think his competitiveness and then his production on the field, and then also him being an athlete and what he can do [was attractive to our coaching staff]."
Kienholz, who also plays basketball and baseball, earned All-State honors on the hardwood after averaging 19.9 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game last season.
Tristan Gebbia
Height: 6-foot-2
Weight: 203 pounds
Class: Graduate transfer by way of Oregon State and Nebraska
Hometown: Calabasas, California (Calabasas High School)
Recruiting: Four-star prospect rated No. 200 overall and No. 9 QB in 2017
Gebbia originally committed to Nebraska in the spring of 2016, at which point Mike Riley was entering his second season as head coach. He enrolled the following January ahead of the 2017 campaign but never appeared in a game for the Cornhuskers. When Riley was fired later that year, Gebbia transferred to Oregon State and sat out the 2018 season because the new transfer rules weren’t yet approved.
His career with the Beavers looked like this:
Gebbia, who will turn 25 in June, entered the transfer portal on Jan. 3 and committed to Ohio State two weeks later. He informed Day and Dennis of his desire to become a coach and asked if he could use his final year of eligibility to prepare himself for that career field.
"This is an opportunity to almost be like a graduate assistant this year and help mentor that room," Day said. "With that being said, he’s played football and he’s been in rivalry games. He’s played more football than anybody in that room. So I thought it was a unique situation. I thought Corey did a good job of identifying him, and I think that’s important when you look at some of those NFL teams and those guys that are in the backup roles. Those guys are supporting the starter. That really helps with the culture, and I’m hoping he can provide that for us.
"And who knows? You just never know how things shake out. I mean, look what happened to the [San Francisco] 49ers in that game [against the Eagles]. They didn’t really have much of a quarterback to play with at the end of that season. You never know what’s going to happen, so I want to make sure we have four guys. We haven’t always had that because it’s hard to find people in this role, and I think it’s a unique role that Tristan is willing to take on. So we’re very grateful and certainly have embraced it."
Michael Cohen covers college football and basketball for FOX Sports with an emphasis on the Big Ten. Follow him on Twitter @Michael_Cohen13.
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